Bangor, Catasauqua tangle in battle of Colonial League last unbeatens

Slaters, Rough Riders have dominated foes to this point.

Frank Scagliotta, wearing a straw hat on his head and a whistle around his neck, didn't see a lot of great things as he monitored preseason workouts in August.

The Bangor coach saw a lot of mistakes being made. He saw them still in the first regular-season game.

Missed blocks. Turnovers. Blown coverages. Missed tackles.

"It was a nightmare," he said, "but we still won."

Scagliotta then saw something happen with his players. He saw one good play lead to another, one good practice lead to another.

He saw the Slaters string together victories, and with it, their collective confidence grew.

Scagliotta has seen one constant throughout Bangor's build-up to a 5-0 start to 2012 and a meeting tonight at fellow unbeaten Catasauqua — the players' desire to give it their all.

"From Day 1, these kids have been tremendous to work with," he said. "It's easy to say when you're 5-0, but if we were 0-5, I'd say the same thing."

The Slaters had major question marks entering this season. There were holes to fill due to graduation and those not coming out for the team.

Few, if any, could have said they picked Bangor to be one of the Colonial League's last two unbeatens entering Week 6.

"Once they started to get some success, they saw that their hard work and commitment were paying off," Scagliotta said. "They believed that if they kept working hard, they were going to get better.

"They have."

There are four new offensive linemen, a first-year running back in Phil Vass, a suddenly confident quarterback in Brett Albinson and a swarming, aggressive defense that has been the backbone of the team's success.

While the offense developed, the defensive group coached up by assistant Tom Toth has been stellar. The Slaters have yielded just 673 yards and 34 points in five games.

Josh Pensyl, who missed the last six games of 2011 with an injury, has been at the heart of Bangor's dominant defensive effort. He has a team-high 40 tackles. But he's had plenty of help. Vinnie Vicario (34 tackles), Michael Clarke (33), Brett Sanders (31) and Dylan Roberts (31) have been key, as well.

"We knew we had a chance to be competitive in the beginning of the season," Scagliotta said. "We needed kids to step up in spots. They have bought into their roles.

"They deserve to be where they are at now."

Bangor will be facing the league's most explosive and dynamic offense in Catasauqua, which has allowed just 17 points in five mercy-rule victories.

Ra'Von Burton and Eric Matz have fueled the Rough Riders' running game and Zack Bradley has orchestrated a big-play passing attack with many targets — including Paryss Marshall, Alex Parker, Jake and Zach Stopay.

Coach Tom Falzone may not have all of those bullets tonight. Burton and Matz were injured in last Friday's win over Saucon Valley. They did not practice most of this week and were considered questionable at best.

But Catty believes it is more than a two-man show.

"The nice thing is that we're not one-dimensional," Falzone said. "We have balance this year that has helped us out a lot."

Early on, Burton and Matz led a strong running game until Bradley and Co. got a rhythm. Last week, when Saucon crowded the box and took away Catty's running game, Bradley threw for a career-high 252 yards and three touchdowns.

Regardless of what Catty does offensively, its defense will keep coming and coming. The Rough Riders will miss Burton (23 tackles) and Matz (32), but they saw Rhaine Sziy step into Burton's linebacker spot last week and make big plays. Sziy has 30 tackles this season.

Zach Stopay leads the Rough Riders, who come at you from all angles of their 3-5 formation, with 40 tackles. Jared Nosal is next with 35.

So, we have two teams that have balance offensively and are dominant and aggressive defensively.

Should be a great one, but it's not the one.

"Whichever team wins the game, the season is not over," Scagliotta said. "All this means is that one team has a leg up. This is a major hurdle, but all is not said and done based on this game.

"But we'd like to have the advantage."

BANGOR AT CATASAUQUA

•When: 7 tonight

•In the spotlight: Catasauqua's health. Running backs/linebackers Ra'Von Burton and Eric Matz are questionable at best. The Rough Riders have other offensive weapons, but these two will be missed as parts of an aggressive 3-5 defense. Bangor's run-first offense will try to stick it down Catty's throat.